During his speech, Moore made a point to single out the politicians, saying that he “fully intends” to hold Gill’s “feet to the fire” in what he calls a “grassroots” movement for cleaner air.

Moore didn’t have statistics for Windsor, but said he based his speech on numbers gathered by the International Organization for Standardization that say 40 per cent of the continent’s emissions come from power plants.

His company’s products can be a part of the solution, “chipping away” at the amount of energy required from power plants, Moore said. He showed off a golf cart equipped to carry stocks of cold beverages that quickly charges via sunlight.

He said Kingsville Golf Course and the city both bought a handful of similar solar-powered carts from his company, which employs about 50 people at its plant on Banwell Road.

He suggested that larger vehicles could be bought by the city for public transit, but admitted they would have to be plugged in during the winter.

Vik Handa, Toronto resident and head of Clean Air, said his group wants to “foster discussion and dialogue” in Ontario because the environmental movement has been “monopolized” by politics.

He said that often, the economy and the environment are made to butt heads. “I don’t think the environment needs to be a divisive issue,” he said.

Moore said locals need to “demand” that the city has an environmental plan in place.

But asked whether the information session was a response to the province’s move in late May to hand over more control of green energy projects to municipalities, Moore said “absolutely not.”

Handa said Queen’s Park is sometimes detached from what’s happening in cities like Windsor, so the change in rules “puts local decision-making first.”

According to Handa, Windsor faces “immediate and imminent” air quality issues, the biggest being the piles of petroleum coke sitting on Detroit’s waterfront.

“We want to hold the government to its mandate to phase out coal,” he said, stressing that his group is non-partisan.

Gill noted in a quick speech that less pollution in the air can “save billions of dollars toward health care.”

For Handa, answers to problems are still on the horizon. “We’re not coming to Windsor suggesting we have solutions, but there are existing solutions and problems,” he said.

City of Windsor Councillor Al Maghnieh speaks during a press conference about green energy along Windsor’s waterfront on July 6, 2013 in Windsor, Ont. (JASON KRYK/The Windsor Star)

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